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This week's guest is Julie McDonald Zander (The Reluctant Pioneer, St. Helen's Press, September 2024). An historical novel of a real-life woman who crossed the country on the Oregon Trail in 1847 and settled in the state of Washington, Julie's debut was her first attempt at fiction after years spent as both a reporter and columnist on the non-fiction side. We discuss the difference between the two genres, the invaluable advice she got from her critique group, and the hats she also wears as owner of her own small press which helps others write their memoirs.
 
Julie McDonald Zander, an award-winning journalist, earned a bachelor's degree in communications and political science from the University of Washington before working two decades as a newspaper reporter and editor. Through her personal history company, Chapters of Life, she has published more than 90 individual, family, business, and community histories. Her debut novel, The Reluctant Pioneer, won a silver Will Rogers Medallion for inspirational fiction and American Bookfest's 20205 Best Book Award for religious fiction, and it was a finalist for Western Writers of America's Spur Award for Best Historical Novel. Her second novel, Shattered Peace: A Century of Silence, was released in spring 2025. She and her husband live in Southwest Washington, where they raised their two children.
 
To learn more about Julie, go to https://sthelenspress.net/

Our podcast guest this week is Leissa Shahrak (Half the World, Atmosphere Press, September 2024). Set in Iran during the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Leissa's book is based on her own experiences living there during that time and her desire to share themes of cultural, language, and religious differences that inform current world events. We also discuss what happens when your pub date happens on the same day a hurricane devastates your town and shuts down not only roads but power and communications.
 
Leissa Shahrak experienced the Iranian Revolution firsthand when she taught English in Iran. Her writing credits include stories published in Del Sol Review, the Bellevue Literary Review, and a British anthology, The Final Chapter: Writings on the End of Life. A life-long traveler and enthusiast of international literature, she now resides in Asheville, North Carolina, with a chess aficionado, a spoiled Shih-Tzu named Scamp, and the occasional black bear.
To learn more about Leissa, click here.

This week's guest is Beth Dotson Brown (Rooted in Sunrise, Koehler Books, September 2024). Beth discusses how she came to write a coming-of-age book for middle-aged women because of a tornado that hit her Kentucky town, how she chose between several hybrid publishers, and how important community is to her as a writer. Finally we discuss finding your "why" and setting your personal goals for your book and how that can effect everything from your plot and your characters, to your publishing route, to setting up an effective and efficient marketing strategy.
   
Beth Dotson Brown is the author of Rooted in Sunrise, a novel about starting over after a natural disaster. She's also an award-winning feature writer, short story author and essayist. Beth is the author of Yes! I Am Catholic and a contributor to A Cup of Comfort for Breast Cancer Survivors and Scenes from the Common Wealth. Heartland Plays published her collection of one-act plays. Her short stories have been published in literary magazines and aired on the BBC World Service Short Story Programme. Beth lives in Lancaster, Kentucky where she enjoys gardening, cooking and spending time with family and friends.
 To learn more about Beth, click here.

On the podcast this week we welcome Christine Gunderson (Friends with Secrets, Lake Union, August 2024). In a wide-ranging discussion, we cover finding an agent who is a real partner, selling book on "proposal" rather than a completed manuscript, and how putting yourself on a "1,000 words a day diet" might help keep you on track. Finally, we look at examining your "why" and learning to differentiate between activities we do that are fun and make us feel good vs. things that actually sell books and how to allocate your time accordingly.
 
Christine Gunderson grew up on a fourth-generation family farm in rural North Dakota where she read Laura Ingalls Wilder books in her very own little house on the prairie. She's a former television anchor and reporter and former Capitol Hill press secretary. She currently lives in the Washington D.C. suburbs with her husband and three children. Her debut novel, Friends with Secrets was an Amazon bestseller, an Amazon Editors First Reads pick and winner of the Women's Fiction Writer's Association Star Award for Best Debut Novel. Her next novel, Behind White Picket Fences, releases in June of 2026 with Lake Union.
 
For more information, go to www.christinegunderson.com.

This week's guest is Nancie Abuhaidar (The Trouble with Possibilities, indie published, September 2024). The idea for Nancie's debut originated with her sister but was passed on to Nancie to bring into being, although it had to be totally reworked after a trip to the African continent where the story takes place. We discuss how writing doesn't have to be a solitary endeavor, where Nancie found help, how effective Instagram blog tours were to publicizing her book, and how getting over the embarrassment of "hawking her book" directly to readers is an ongoing challenge.  
 
From a young age Nancie had a head full of stories and an obsession with animals, especially horses. Nancie grew up in suburban Philadelphia, transplanted to Vermont with her son, then landed in upstate New York. A late bloomer academically, Nancie entered the Frances Perkins Scholarship Program at Mount Holyoke College. She graduated with a BA in English and a Five College Certificate in International Relations. Her sister and mother-in-law want you to know she graduated Magna Cum Laude, is a Phi Beta Kappa member, and received high honors for her narrative non-fiction thesis, The Women in the Picture.
Nancie resides on a Hudson Valley farm with her husband, dogs, and horses. When she's not cleaning up her menagerie's mess, she lets her imagination loose in her writing dungeon. Nancie writes women's fiction, twisty upmarket novels, and has an upper YA fantasy duology lurking in her drawer. She is a member of the WFWA and SCBWI.
To learn more about Nancie, go to https://nancieabuhaidar.com/